Maintaining temperature is an important factor that should be taken into consideration during the transport of cells/biological, samples/organs to other places. This is of vital importance in the scientific experiments, medical practices and other fields.
Little changes in the temperature of biological samples and cells can affect the experiment and lead to inaccurate results. If the temperature isn't stable, the obtained results can be attributed to cellular changes occurring from fluctuations in the temperature and not the experimental parameters that the researcher intended to test. However, the results can be reported as experimental results leading to inaccurate conclusion. Changes in the temperature can, also, influence the viability/function of the human organs that are needed in organ transplantation surgeries. Accordingly, a simple change in the temperature can lead to the loss of a lot of money that was spent in research in addition to the waste of the valuable time and efforts of the researcher.
The followings are some examples of the costs that the researcher can lose if errors were conducted in the experiment the cost of buying and culturing cells, the cost of the growth media and the required supplements, the cost of the animals and their housing if primary culture was used, the cost of maintaining the incubator, the cost of the inhibitors, drugs, antibodies, films and membranes, gels of western blot and other materials used in the experiment.
In addition to controlling the temperature, maintaining other conditions is very important for the cells, organs and biological samples. For example, the change in humidity surrounding the samples/cells can increase the concentration of the cell culture media and other solutions by changing the ratio of amino acids, salts and minerals. This change in the growth media can cause toxicity, cell death and inaccurate results that can be reported and analyzed by the researcher as results of the experiment while the results emerged, in fact, from the improper environmental conditions used in the experiment.
The available methods that are used to transport the cells/biological samples are not practical. For example, some scientists wrap the cell flask or the sample container with a blanket, place it inside a styrofoam box and carry the box to another place. Other scientists centrifuge the cells to pellet them or freeze the cells in cryogenic solution to be able transport them for long distance. These methods can affect the cells/biological samples if used repeatedly and aren't effective ways to transport cells and biological samples.
The equipment available in the market aren't practical for transporting biological sample/fixed cells for the following reasons:
A] The lack of the enclosed sterile environment in the styrofoam box/other boxes.
B] The need for the continuous disinfection of the sample container.
C] The lack of control on parameters that are important for maintaining the cells/biological samples including the levels of oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and humidity.
D] Un-suitability of the available methods (e.g. the styrofoam box) for transporting the cells/samples for long distances and long period of time.
E] The use of certain methods (e.g. freezing and thawing the cells) that can affect the contents and the metabolism of the cells and can lead to freezing injury and other effects.
F] Inability to fix the container during the transport of cells and biological samples (restriction in the transport of flasks that contain live cells growing in media).
Erik B Finger referred to the methods that are used in transporting the human organs and organ preservation in the hospitals and the clinics in his article. (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/431140-overview#a1). The author summarized data from previous studies that included testing the conditions of the organ preservation and the effect of this process on organs. In particular, the author reported that the preservation method disrupts the relation between temperature, osmolality and pH in the cells during cooling the organ (hypothermia).
The author reported that the decrease in temperature affects metabolism in cells. The metabolic rate slows down by a factor of 12-13 when the temperature of the organ decreases from 37° C. (98.6° F.) to 0° C. (32° F.) during the cooling process. It also changes the function of the enzymes that are bound to cell membrane.